Love you John

Missed you lots these past few weeks John, it's almost time to come home....I will see you very soon.  Huge hugs and kisses are coming.

Share the joy

Here's a darling Sherri Baldy image 886 today.  Isn't she a cutie?  Check out her and lots of other wonderful stamps in the My Besties store on line.

Check out the current contest at the SSS Challenge blog where you can join in with your Sherri Baldy cards to win a prize as well as be a guest designer on Addicted To Stamps blog!

Mini Calendars

Here's some more of the adorable little calendars that I made for fellow workers and church members.  The top hedge hog stamp I got at a local store called Paper Place. The center angel is from TAC. the bottom little girl is from Your Next Stamp and the one that cracks me up of course says, "Crafting each day keeps the crazy away" it is from Taylored Expressions Grumplings.

Sending Bear Hugs on your Birthday

Happy Birthday Sandra Caldwell!!  As many of you know, on of my very favorite stamp artists is Sandra Caldwell, who drew this stamp here!  I made this cute card to send her bear hugs all the way from the other side of the world and wish her a very happy birthday today!

Hope you have a very special birthday Sandra.

Texas

Here's a quick and simple CAS card that I did with some wonderful Jolee's.  I can't believe we are almost to August and it's time to go back to Texas.  As hot as it is here in Istanbul, it's WAY hotter in Texas.  When I get home, I have just 10 days before school gets started.

That being said, I do miss the DH and my own bed lol. Texas, here I come!

is it winter yet?

LOL, is it winter yet?  I have this adorable Grumplings set from Taylored Expressions in Summer theme.  I am some days wondering about winter, but when I say winter, I mean TEXAS winter.  Not winter.  Texas winter that we normally get, which is in the 50s or so.  I can live with that for a little while.  Now last year, it was just absurdly cold for us (and I think most of you as well).  So, I am pretty much kidding when I ask for winter, because I know how brutal that can be.  I literally ordered myself a coat from CANADA.  bwahahaha!!!

Hope you are all enjoying the summer heat for now. I am sure before we know it we will be wishing for summer again.  Take Care and have a wonderful summery day!

Lucy Loo

Here's an awesome image from one of my favorite online stores, The East Wind. This character is called Lucy Loo.  I love her and have quite a number of her wonderful stamps.  I like how she is popping out of the mirror on this image (and that awesome skull)

I am using some great Turkish Lace on this card.  I bet I am also still looking at all the wonderful lace stores all over Istanbul!

Hello Sunshine!

Hello Sunshine!  Isn't that the truth!  It's summer and the sun is blaring.  It's been super hot and I made this adorable image into an all yellow theme card using this cute image from Time for Tea Designs.  I love their cute girls and lovely animal stamps.

Have a sunshiney day!

Have a great day!

Here's a card I made using a rubber stamp from Starving Artistamps.  They have some great quirky and fun images, which you know I love.  This quick and cute card was a fun make.  I hope it gives you a little smile today.  For me it quickly times to the Karakoy (neighborhood in Istanbul) which is a huge fish market in Istanbul.  Make me think of a worker there.

Have a great day everyone.

Mini Calendars

Here's some fun stamped images that I used for handmade calendars (clockwise)

The first on is a wonderful Istanbul stamp that my DH bought me for my birthday (he got it on Amazon) 

The second one is a hilarious sentiment from Funny Bones (Riley&Company)  it says "Whoever created the phrase, "The best part of waking up" ...is stupid!

The third one on the top row is a cute little Pixie Post image.

The bottom on is a Grumplings from Taylored Expressions that says "My new exercise routine: Diddly Squats"  HA!! that is just too funny

Anna Griffin kit part 2

I bought this fun kit from a local store to make this beautiful cards.  Here's two of the ones in the set. This kit is from Anna Griffin.  They turn out beautiful, they are quick and simple to make and it's easy to add a little extra embellishment (such as cute little buttons!

One must be Brave to Be an artist

Here's a wonderful image from Dilly Beans. I love this artist's images, esp all the skulls she makes.  The sentiment says, "One must be brave to be an artist."  I think that means that you must be brave to share your work with the world and put yourself out there.  It's very must like sharing a private piece of yourself when you share your art.

I hope you are having a fabulous summertime. I can't believe it's more than half over now.  Have a brilliant day everyone!

Happy Birthday

I made this birthday card today for Cemil Cicek.  I am staying in Turkiye with him and his mother, my dear "sister" right now. It's been fabulous.  I will perhaps share some photos sometime.  You all just know I am getting some yummy lace and such for the cards I love to make.

Hope your birthday is special Cemil.  May you get everything you desire and blessings for a happy year!

I am the queen

Here's a great sexy card for the partner in your life.  I hope my hubby likes it.  He knows I am the queen, though I never actually make him call me that, lol!  He does often treat me like one, which I appreciate, even after, hmmm, wow, about 20 years.

This image comes from Slinky Tarts (formerly Stampin Chef).  Love her wonderful sexy girl stamps.  Hope you have a great day today. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Hugs, Holley

Smiles

Here's a fun fairy stamp from Nellie Snellen. I love how she has this cute flying frog.  Definitely an image that gives me some smiles.  I added some wonderful bright and summer filled colors for it.

As I am sure you can tell over my postings, I have set up my blog posts early, prior to vacation, so that you can enjoy some wonderful cards while I am away.  I hope that I will be able to access my computer and insert some comments. I  will definitely be checking in and reading your wonderful comments and answering your questions.

Adorable

Here's a super cute image from Sherri Baldy. I created this card for the current contest on the SSS Challenge blog.  The theme right now is Anything Goes, so drop over to the current challenge and have fun playing along with us.

Hope you are having a wonderful summer. Do you feel like some Ice Cream?

Mini Calendars

Here's some very quick and cute calendars that I made.  The stamped panda comes from Unity stamps.  The others were made with designer scrapbook papers.

Anna Griffin, part 1

I got some fun card making kits.  It's been really difficult in the months of late May and June (yes, I do my cards that far in advance) to be crafting without an elbow.  Even coloring has been a real challenge.  You'd be surprised how much you use your non-dominant hand for.  Even using my die cut machine often takes two hands!!  So, that being said, I got myself some fun card making kits in which I could still be having fun creating.

Here's the first of two cards from a fun Anna Griffin kit (I didn't get if off amazon, I am just showing you what the kit looks like).  Locally they had these kits at Tuesday Morning for about $3.

Cute doggy

 Here's a super cute doggy from Sweet Pea stamps.  I so miss this wonderful company.  This cutie was designed by Fernanda Orvec (stamp artist) and all her stamp profits went to a charity for dogs.  How sweet was that?  I just love her cute little dog stamps.

Hope you are having a wonderful July, I should be out and about in Turkiye now, I am making a trip called the 7 Churches of Revelations, where I am visiting the churches in the Book of Revelations in the Bible. (or the remains of these churches, they are all in Turkiye, which was formerly Rome at the time).

Notepad Holder

Here's a quick and cute little project I did with a Sweet Pea stamps and some great Paper Temptress Papers.  I do so miss Sweet Pea stamps, but having worked with them for several years, I have a wonderful collection of their amazing rubber!  Also, let me tell you that Paper Temptress is getting ready to close down and start putting papers on sale, so go get what you want!!  It's going, going, gone.....so go grab those papers you need before they are unavailable.


This cute project is using some gorgeous Mica/Metallic as the card base, it's called Flame.  The image is printed on Neenah Solar white classic crest.  The image is layered on a beautiful yellow which matches the dress perfectly called and has a wonderful mica sparkle is called Mangue Sparkle.  I added a wonderful Hambly Studio Overlay on top of the while project called Lime Mini Graphs.

So what is this project, you ask?  it's a fold around for a note pad!, you can see the cute hole/ribbon (that's also available at Paper Temptress it's HERE);  It hides a wonderful notepad.

Happy Birthday Kathy!

Wishing my dearest mother in law a very Happy Birthday with this hilarious card using stamps from the Grumplings line of Taylored Expressions and some great lace from Turkiye.  Thought she might like a little attitude today.  Hope she will have a very special day. I am sure John's dad will do something great.

Happy Birthday Kathy!  (And P.S. you're not old!!)

Shop Now

Lol, Shop NOW and work later. Thought this sentiment was just perfect for vacation! I love this cute little girl from Notturno Digital Arts.  She has the cutest images on Etsy.  I adore her stamps, be sure and check them out.

I can't believe vacation is moving by so quickly! It's been wonderful time. I can't wait to get back home to tell you all about it.

TOO hot!

Everyone enjoying that summer heat?  I am...well,  I am loving it more than the winter cold.  I am definitely a summer person, but I do hate it when it's just flat out 110 deg F, which is often what it gets in the peak of summer in South Texas.  That being said, everything in south Texas is air conditioned.

Here in Istanbul, it's at least 20 degrees cooler (so 85-90 deg heat), but there is very little places that are air conditioned.  So, the heat itself seems much worse at times.  LOTS of ice cream and water consumption going on here

Mini Calendars

Sharing some cute handmade calendars today, I can't believe that I made SO many of these in hindsight.  WOW.  It didn't seem like that many back then, or hmmm, maybe it did, lol!  Try making a 100 of anything, I challenge you!

Guest Designer Melody

Here's a great project that I received from Melody Strahan.  She's using a canvas background that she painted and a wonderful butterfly stamp/die cut set that she won as a prize back during the February celebration!!  What a stunning project. 

Thank you so much Melody

Missing Winter Yet?

I thought this polar bear stamp was just TOO cute. I can recall how much I complained about the extremely cold winter we had this year.  Now of course that it is summer, perhaps a day of some cold weather would be nice huh?  Well, I am not a cold lover.  I love summer!

Though, a cool breeze would be nice.....just saying....

Hello

Hello everyone!  Here's a wonderful stamp today from Lili of the Valley plus some amazing lace from Turkiye.  As I am sure you can guess I am having a field day in Istanbul buying lace right now. I just love it.  So many beautiful designs and different looks. I love it on cards as much as I love buttons!

Hope you are having a great summer time.  I miss the kiddos at school and I hope they are also having a fun summer. I know I will be so surprised when I see them next year at how much each of them has grown over just three months of summer time.  Have a great day everyone!

Cheers, Holley

Happiness

Here's a wonderful image from Lizzy Love today. I adore her stamps.  This wonderful sentiment comes with the stamp. "There's nothing quite as magical as when our 2 hearts united a burning ball of desire our love was ignited!"  I added an additional sentiment to the card, "Happiness."

I am thinking of my DH when I posted this card. I hope he's having a wonderful time at home and celebrating the 4th of July with his day off.  Huge hugs and kisses babe! Thanks so much for buying me this ticket!

Thinking of you

Thinking of you DH, just a little card so he knows that I am thinking of him even though I am so far far away. I dream of him at night and think about him all the time.  Hope you are having a great July.

Huge kisses from Turkey.

See you soon.....

You are a hottie

Here's an awesome image from Simply Betty Stamps. I love her great images, esp the sexy lady stamps.  I think this cutie makes a great stamp for the DH.  I want my hubby to see some lov-y cards while I am away from him.

Hope you are all having a great July, I can't believe we are already a month through with summer time.  I guess I spent almost all of my June month getting physical therapy on my elbow, so it wasn't much of a real vacation time.

New contest at the YSBP Challenge blog

Happy July everyone!  It's time for a brand new contest on the Your Scrapbook Place challenge blog.  Our sponsor this month is Enchanted School stamps.  They have provided an awesome Mermaid collection that the design team used to create cards.  Here's my CAS card using just one of the images from the darling set (click here to see the set at her ETSY store)

The cute sentiment says "Live in way to make happy memories."  The contest at the blog is ANYTHING GOES, so you can share with us any of your new art projects, we'd love to see them.  You could win a fun art set from Enchanted School.